Hetero-association of caffeine and aromatic drugs and their competitive binding with a DNA oligomer.

NMR spectroscopy has been used to elucidate the molecular basis of the action of caffeine (CAF) on the complexation with DNA of mutagens such as ethidium bromide, propidium iodide, proflavine and acridine orange, and anticancer drugs such as actinomycin D and daunomycin. The hetero-association of CAF and each of the aromatic ligands in 0.1 mol L(-1) phosphate buffer (pD=7.1) has been investigated as a function of concentration and temperature by 500 MHz 1H NMR spectroscopy and analysed in terms of a statistical-thermodynamic model, in which molecules form indefinite aggregates for both self-association and hetero-association. The analysis leads to determination of the equilibrium constants of hetero-association and to the values of the limiting chemical shifts of the heteroassociation of CAF with each of the aromatic molecules. The hetero-association constants between CAF and each of the aromatic drugs/dyes are found to be intermediate in magnitude between those for self-association of CAF and the corresponding drug/dye. The most probable structures of the 1:1 CAF + ligand hetero-association complexes have been determined from the calculated values of the induced limiting chemical shifts of the drug protons. Knowledge of the equilibrium constants for self-association of CAF and the aromatic ligands, for their hetero-association and their complexation with a DNA fragment, the deoxytetranucleotide 5'-d(TpGpCpA), enabled the relative content of each of the CAF-ligand and CAF-ligand-d(TGCA) complexes to be calculated as a function of CAF concentration in mixed solutions. It is concluded that, on addition of CAF to the solution, the decrease in binding of drug or mutagen with DNA is due both to competition for the binding sites by CAF and the aromatic molecules, and to formation of CAF-ligand hetero-association complexes in the mixed solution; the relative importance of each process depends on the drug or mutagen being considered.